◄ Judges 15:4 ►
And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the middle between two tails.
Treasury of Scripture

caught three. Dr. Kennicott and others contend, that for foxes, we should read handfuls or sheaves of corn. But

1. The word lachad, rendered caught, never signifies simply to get or take but always to catch, seize, or take by assault or stratagem.

2. Though the proposed alteration is sanctioned by seven MSS., yet all the versions are on the other side.

3. Admitting this alteration, it will be difficult to prove that the word shoal means either a sheaf or a handful of corn in the ear, and straw. It occurs but thrice in Scriptures (1ki

Judges 20:10 And we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and an hundred of a thousand...

. Is

40:12:00

Ezekiel 13:9 And my hand shall be on the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people...

): where it evidently means as much as can be contained in the hollow of the hand; but when handfuls of grain in the shock, or sheaves are intended, very different words are used. See

Ruth 2:15,16 And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and reproach her not...

, etc.

4. It is not hinted that Samson collected them alone, or in one day; he might have employed many hands and several days in the work.

5. The word Shual properly denotes the jackal, which travellers describe as an animal in size between the wolf and fox, gregarious, as many as

200 having been seen together, and the most numerous of any in eastern countries; so that Samson might have caught many of them together in nets.

Psalm 63:10 They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes.

Songs 2:15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.

Lamentations 5:18 Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk on it.

firebrands or touches



Context
Samson Defeats the Philistines

3And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. 4And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the middle between two tails. 5And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives. 6Then the Philistines said, Who has done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire. 7And Samson said to them, Though you have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I will cease. 8And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelled in the top of the rock Etam. 9Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. 10And the men of Judah said, Why are you come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he has done to us. 11Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Know you not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that you have done to us? And he said to them, As they did to me, so have I done to them. 12And they said to him, We are come down to bind you, that we may deliver you into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, Swear to me, that you will not fall on me yourselves. 13And they spoke to him, saying, No; but we will bind you fast, and deliver you into their hand: but surely we will not kill you. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock. 14And when he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily on him, and the cords that were on his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. 15And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. 16And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps on heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. 17And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi. 18And he was sore thirsty, and called on the LORD, and said, You have given this great deliverance into the hand of your servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? 19But God split an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water out of there; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: why he called the name thereof Enhakkore, which is in Lehi to this day. 20And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.
Parallel Verses
American Standard Version
And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he went and caught three hundred foxes, and coupled them tail to tail, and fastened torches between the tails.

Darby Bible Translation
So Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches; and he turned them tail to tail, and put a torch between each pair of tails.

King James Bible
And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails.

Young's Literal Translation
And Samson goeth and catcheth three hundred foxes, and taketh torches, and turneth tail unto tail, and putteth a torch between the two tails, in the midst,

Judges 15:3
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